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by markab21 4000 days ago
I agree that this is better than parachutes , but not because of the cost of the plane. If your engine is failing, your plane failed you and isn't worth saving. that's what insurance is for : ) the moment you pull a parachute (for example the CAPS on the cirrus , the plane is totaled anyway).

The most dangerous place to have a failure is during initial take off (low hour student pilot here). The engine kicking on would give you a chance to actually do what is nearly impossible in this circumstance, get back to the airport safely without a stall.

As I understand usually the most dangerous circumstances are the one above described, stalling on base or final approach to runway and flying from VFR (clear of clouds with visibility) into IMC poor weather conditions.

Both of those circumstances wouldn't benefit from a backup engine. : (

As other people in the threads have posted, Fuel Starvation, water condensation in the fuel, some of those situations this would definitely help, but all of those conditions are 100% preventable with proper pre-flight planning and inspections.
1 comments
ju-st 4000 days ago
Commercial airplanes have (at least) two engines because of the high risk of failure at take-off.

The next step for this electric engine would be to replace that second heavy, expensive engine every large airplane carries around...

Additionally, the full power of the two engines is only needed at takeoff. At cruise they only run at 30-40%. An electric motor with a relativly small battery would be enough to provide enough power at takeoff.

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phillc73 4000 days ago
Plenty of "commercial" aeroplanes only have one engine. The Cessna Caravan springs to mind. I run a couple of Cessna 206s for joy flights. Strictly speaking, people pay my company money for this, therefore the aircraft are "commercial."
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mikeash 4000 days ago
It's not just takeoff. Often airliners cruise outside of gliding range of an airport that can handle them, and a total power failure could be catastrophic there.

As long as the electric engine can provide a sufficient backup to get to an airport after a failure in cruise, though, that would certainly be an interesting possibility.

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